white



{No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. R. WHITE.

GATE.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. W. R. WHITE. GATE.

No. 593,146. Patented Nov. 2, 1897.

TNK HL'RRVS Perms co. wmaumo, wnsmuoron n. c

a'rnnr @rrrc \VILLIAM RICHARD 'WHITE, OF BLOOMINGTON, lLLlNOlS.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 593,146, dated November 2, 1897'.

Application filed October 16, 1896. Serial No. 609,131. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RICHARD lVHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bloomington, McLean county, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in swinging gates; and itconsists, substantially, in such features of construction, arrangement, and combinations of parts as will hereinafter be more particularly described.

Theinvention has reference more particularly to that class of swinging gates Which are opened and closed through the medium of hand-levers mounted or fulcrumed upon supporting-posts suitably disposed or arranged on one side of the roadway; and the object of the present invention is the improvement of the gate generally, but more partic ularly the connections between the innerends of the operating-levers and the devices by which the latch-bar is automatically opened and closed upon the application of a force applied to the hand-levers.

The invention also has certain other 0bjccts in view, all as will more fully hereinafter appear when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a swinging gate constructed and arranged in accordance with my present invention; and Fig. 2 is a top or plan view, the full lines indicating the closed position of the gate and the dotted lines the open position thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, in front elevation, of the laterally-projecting frames on the gate, together with a portion of the gate and the supporting-post therefor. Fig. dis a detail View, in part section, representing more clearly the construction and arrangement of the movable lever connection by which the latch-bar of the gate is operated. Fig. 5 is a detail of a modification.

In its general appearance the swinging gate herein shown and about to be described bears a somewhat close resemblance to some of the former Letters Patent which have been granted me on the subject namely, the one granted to me on the 22d of August, 1893, No. 503,887 but it will be found from the description hereinafterfollowing that the present invention differs materially in several respects.

The present invention is capable of a great many different embodiments, and it will be understood that I am not limited to the precise details of construction and arrangement shown, although in practice I have found the present embodiment to possess very marked advantages, and therefore I prefer its use for all general purposes.

Thus, as shown in the drawings, 1, 2, and 3designate supportingposts arranged alongside of the roadway, the latter being the post to which the gate is hinged and the central post being the one which carries the guide for the inner connected ends of the hand operating-levers. These said levers A B are mounted or fulcrumed, respectively, at a and b, the one directly upon the post 1 and the other upon a strut or brace 4, connecting with the end of a horizontal beam 5, extending parallel with the roadway and supported at a height somewhat above that of the gate by means of the said posts 1, 2, and 3, already mentioned.

The inner ends of the operating-levers A and B could be connected to be operated in unison in many different ways; but I have found considerable advantage resulting in the special connections therefor which will be more specifically referred to hereinafter. Disposed on'the opposite side of the roadway in direct alinement with thepost 3 is another post 6, and this latter post has projecting from its face a suitable catch 7, having a boveled or rounded edge 8 and formed with a shoulder 9, around which the engaging portion of the latch-bar passes, as will hereinafter appear. The gate itself is preferably a metallic gate, (indicated at (1,) and this gate is mounted or supported upon the post 8 by means of metallic loops or hinges c c, fastened in the said post, and the post is provided with a series of openings 10 to receive the hooked end 11 of a bracket 12, which has vertical movement upon the upper loop or hinge, and it is through the medium of this bracket that the gate may be adjusted vertically on its hinged supports, so as to carry the lower edgeof the gate nearer to or farther from the surface of the ground; but no arm; but while the said arm has been found specific mention need herein be made of the bracket, since the same is already covered by me in a former Letters Patent. For the purposes of lightness and strength the said gate 0 is constructed of channel-metal portions 6 6, extending its entire length, and these portions are united by flat vertical portions f and diagonal bracing portions 9, while the remainder of the gate is constituted of a number of metallic rods passing through the said vertical and diagonal portions and suitably secured in place. This general construction of gate has been shown by me in a former Letters Patent, in which is shown also a somewhat similarly constructed lat-ch bar movably supported by the gate. In the present instance the said latch-bar D at its forward end is bent into a doubled right-angled portion m, adapted to engage the shoulder of the catch '7, projecting from the side of the post 6. Considerable attention has been here tofore paid both by myself and others to the devices for operating somewhat similarly disposed latch-bars by which to relieve the said bars of all strain as well as to cause the same to be instantly affected upon the application of force to either one of the operating handlevers. In my former patent, already referred to by number, the movable latch-bar is released from its catches by means of a rocking extremely advantageous it is desirable that all strains be distributed in right lines and that the gate itself rather than the devices or connections which operate the latch-bar be made as much as possible to bear them. The

present construction has been found to meet all these requirements as well as to be far more simple in other respects.

Thus E represents as a whole a laterallyprojecting frame supported by the gate, in the present instance comprising the substantially horizontal portion 15, having the side portions 16 and 17 secured at 18 and 19, preferablyto one of the metallic rods of the gate, the said horizontal portion being substantially in the same horizontal plane as the longer portion of the movable latch-bar, and except for the reasons about to be stated the said horizontal frame need not embody f u'rther elements or additions. Supported about centrally of the horizontal portion of the said laterally-prejecting frame is a movable or oscillating lever F, which, as shown, is provided at one end with a pin 18, passing loosely into an eye 19, formed or provided on the latclrbar. At its other end the said lever is turned over or bent upward at 20 to constitute a vertically-disposed lug or car 21, having an opening 22, in which is loosely held the lower end of the connecting-bar G, the opposite or upper end of which is similarly supported in an eye 22, secured in the under side of the hand-lever B a short distance from the inner end of the said lever. The said movable or oscillating lever F turns or oscillates upon a pin or screw 25, passing through the horizontal portion of the said lat erally-projecting frame, and from the construction and arrangement thus far described it willbe seen that simply to pull upon either one of the hand-levers A or B would impart to the said lever F a movement suffieient to disengage orrelease the latch-bar, and thus permit the gate to be swung open or closed, the connecting-bar between the hand-levers and said lever F being first slightly elevated and then swung to an opposite position, as shown in Fig. 2, the arrangement of parts being such that the gate will be carried to either position by its own momentum and Without encountering a dead-center. \Vhile, as I have stated, such a construction as I have described up to this point could be made to answer many of the requirements of an ordinary swinging gate of this character, it is obvious that all the strain would have to be borne by the lever connection F between the lower end of the connecting-bar G and the connection with the latch-bar, or at least practically so, and therefore to obviate this and to cause all of the strain to be either directly or indirectly borne by the gate itself I resort to the construct-ion about to be described.

Thus II represents an auxiliary laterallyprojecting frame supported at its ends upon one of the longitudinal bars of the gate or on the uprights thereof, being preferably oval or semicircular in its shape and being riveted ;or otherwise secured at to the side per tions 16 and'17 of the said laterally-proj ectin g frame E. It will be noticed that the said auxiliary frame His turned upward at the front in such manner as to be substantially i slightly above the horizontal portion 15 of the main laterally-projecting frame E, which is for the purpose of carrying the parts of both of the frames, as well as the movable connections for the latch-bar, as far beyond the reach of stock as possible. If intended for no other purpose, this auxiliary frame II would materially strengthen the frame E; but it is intended to subserve the additional function about to be described. Thus it will be observed that at a point coinciding with the I end of the lever F, connecting with the lower end of the connecting-bar G,the said auxiliary frame II is notched or slotted at to receive the tongue or end 36, formed with or carried by the said lever F, and in this way not only is all lateral strain taken from the movable latch-bar, but such strain is made to be more .or less directly borne by the gate structure For instance, as heretofore devised in itself. manyinstances, and I might also say the same to be the case with the rocking arm of my former Letters Patent referred to, not only has the latch-bar had to subserve its func tion as such in holding the gate to its desired positions, but it has also had to practically sustain the necessarystrain required to swing or turn the gate upon its hinges. This is not the case in the present instance, since there is practically no lateral strain upon the latchbar, while all strain is borne by the lateral frames E and H in such manner as to be imparted almost directly to the gate itself. When either one of the hand-levers is operated to open or close the gate, the first effect is to slightly move or oscillate the lever F upon its pivot in the horizontal portion of the frame E, and this movement of the said lever F is imparted to the latch-bar. Inasmuch, however, as the movement of the said lever F is limited by the slot or notclr in the projecting portion of the auxiliary frame II as soon as the said lever F has moved the latch-bar the strain or moving force upon the gate itself isimlnediately received by the auxiliary frame, since the tongue 36 of the lever F comes into contact therewith at one or the other extremity of the slot 35, accordingly as the gate is operated to be opened or to be closed. It will thus be seen that no lateral strain is thereafter exerted on the latchbar or on the operatingdever F, and also that no other strain is exerted on either of these parts except such only as is required to move the latch-bar back and forth in a direct line. By increasing or diminishing the length of the slot or notch 35 in the auxiliary frame H the degree of movement of the latch-bar may be adjusted or varied to suit different requirements, and in order that these changes may be effected without much trouble I preferably in the first instance make the slot or notch 35 a little longer than is absolutely required, and then I insert in one end or the other of the said slot a wedge or key 40, against which the tongue 86 of the lever F impinges. The adjustment or regulation of the movement of the latch-bar can thus be had either by the insertion of wedges or keys of different thicknesses, so as to limit the movement of the lever F, or else the said key might be made capable of adjustment in the slot and held at different positions therein by any suitable means.

While I have herein shown .and described a particular form of latch-bar as wellas a particular shape of the portion thereof which engages with the catches on the posts 1 and 0, it is evident that I am not restricted to such form of latch-bar, and instead of using the right-angled engaging portion at the for ward end thereof I might use a tapered form of engaging portion, or else such engaging portion might be of a T shape, and in fact I am not limited to any special form of lockin g or engaging portion for the bar so long as the said bar is engaged or released on imparting thereto a longitudinal movement through the medium of devices connected with the operating-levers.

The inner ends of the operatinglevers A and I are of course movably connected, so that the two will be operated upon the application of a force to either, and it is desirable that there shall be no lost motion between these levers and consequently the other parts of the gate, and I have found a convenient form of connection in the general construction and embodiment which I have shown herein. Thus, for instance, the lever A is formed with a slot at its end, in which is received and held in place by means of suitable rivets or pins 46 a liftingarm 47, disposed at a slight angle forward of the end of the said lever A and having an opening 48, in which is held a link or yoke 49, which embraces the corresponding end of the opposite hand-lever B and has a working movement upon a pin or rivet 50, passing all the way through the said lever B from side to side. It will be seen that while the said link or yoke 49 embraces the two sides of the lever B it also extends up a suitable distance beyond the top of said lever to enable the end of the lever to have a free movement as it is carried upward by the operation of opening and closing the gate, and, furthermore, in order to prevent any undue lateral movement between the liftingarm and the said link or yoke the latter is contracted at the point of its movable connection with the said lifting-arm, as shown at 51, for instance. By this form of connection it will be seen that the levers A and B operate in unison and that as soon as one is operated there is a lifting action imparted to the other, and the momentum of the gate is always sufficient to restore the said levers to their normal positions after once being elevated or raised at their inner ends. These levers are also prevented from lateral movement relative to each other, except such as is required for freedom of action, and relative I to their fulcrums are maintained'in their operative positions by means of the verticallyarranged loop-guide 55, carried by the central post 2, hereinbefore referred to.

It is thought the construction and arrangement of the parts of my present invention will be fully understood, and it is of course unnecessary for me to state that my improved main and auxiliary laterally projecting frames could be employed also with equal effect upon a wooden gate, the said frames E and H, however, being preferably of metal, as well as the operating devices with which they cooperate. I have referred to the auxiliary frame as being curved or semicircular in shape, but it is evident that the same could be of any other form desired, as could also the frame E and its adjuncts.

As shown in the modification Fig. 5, the lug or projecting portion (30, which corresponds to the part 21 in the remaining figures, is carried upward practically to a level with the top of the gate, while in other respects the construction of the oscillating lever F is the same. By so extending the portion I am enabled to use a much shorter connectingbar G, and, besides, there is less liability of the gate being opened and closed through the efforts of stock.

/vhile Ihave defined a specific form of pin oted oscillatinglever F,it is evident, of course,

that I am not restricted'thereto, since the said lever is capable of a great many different constructions, and instead of its being a straight lever it may be a lever comprising one or more bends or turns, and in fact the construction of this lever may be modified in various ways, as may be the connections therewith of the latch-bar and the connecting-bar from the hand-levers. In otherwords, as distinguished from former inventions the said lever is pivoted substantially at its central part to oscillate or swing in a horizontal plane, and it is evident that such a lever could be utilized in various forms, and also instead of being flat can be readily made of round rod metal.

It may be added that the movable latchbar is provided with an adjustable nut '75, which enables the bar to be so adjusted as to conform the engaging portion thereof to different sizes and forms of catches to receive the same, and also in order to limit the outward or forward movement of the said latchbar the end thereof projecting beyond that part of the gate adjacent to the hinges is provided with a head 7 6, and it will thus be seen that the latch-bar possesses advantages also in this particular respect.

It will be seen that the position and relative arrangement of the parts is such that normally when the gate is closed the latchbar is in a retracted position to engage the shoulder of the catch-plate projecting from the post (5 and that when the gate is opened and the latch-bar engaged by the catch on the post 1 the said latch-bar is in a projected position relative to the gate. This arrangement is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein it will be seen that the outer end of the oscillating lever F, which connects with the lower end of the connection-bar, is normally in a forward position relative to its pivotal point, the opposite end of the lever which is in movable connection with the latch-bar being in a position slightly nearer to the hinged or inner end of the gate. Thus when either one of the operating-levers is depressed at its outer end the outer end of the oscillating lever is drawn backward or in the direction of the said operating-levers, while the inner end of the said oscillating lever is carried forward, and consequently the latch-bar is moved forward and is released. This result can be effected in many different Ways, and it is apparent that I am not limited to the particular devices herein shown for accomplishing the same. For instance, the oscillating lever F might be mounted on a simple projection from the side of the gate, and while such projection would constitute substantially a lateral frame it need not be literally a frame in the sense employed in some of the other connections herein referred to.

Vvithout limiting myself to the precise construction shown and described,'I claim as my invention- 1. In a swinging gate, the combination with pivoted operating-levers therefor, of a connection betweenthe adjacent ends of the levers comprising a fixed upwardly extending lifting-arm on one lever and a movable link on the other lever, the said arm and link being movably connected at a point above the levers, substantially as described.

2. In aswinging gate, the combination with pivoted operating-levers therefor, of a conpivoted link on the other lever also inclined relative to its lever, the said arm and link bein g movably joined together at a point above the said levers, substantially as described.

4. In a swinging gate, the combination with pivoted operating-levers therefor, of a connection between the adjacent ends of the levers comprising a lifting-arm on one lever, and a movable link on the other, the said arm and link being movably joined together, and the said link being constructed to embrace the sides of its lever and contracted at the point of its connectionwith said arm, substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

5. In a swinging gate, the combination with the gate and pivoted operating-levers therefor, of a longitudinally-movable latch-bar, a laterally-projecting fixed arm or frame on one side of the gate, a horizontally-movable lever supported on said lateral frame and being in direct movable connection with the latch-bar, and the connecting-bar in movable connection with the outer end of said lever and in similar connection with one of the operating-levers, substantially as described.

6. In a swinging gate,'the combination with the gate and pivoted operating-levers therefor, of a longitudinally-movable latch-bar constructed at its forward end to engage catches on the posts therefor, and also provided at near its inner end with an eye, a laterally-projecting frame on, one side of the gate, a pivoted horizontally-oscillating lever supported on said frame and having one of its ends entering the eye of the latch-bar, and a connecting-bar pivotally united with the outer end of said lever, and in similar connection with one of the operating-levers, substantially as described.

7. In a swinging gate, the combination with the gate and pivoted operating-levers therefor, of a movable latch-bar, a laterally-projecting frame on the gate, a horizontallymovable lever supported by the frame and in movable connection with the latch-bar and provided with a vertically-disposed lug or projection, and aconnecting-bar suspended from one of the operating-levers and in pivotal connection with said lug or projection, sub

stantially as described.

8. In a swinging gate, the combination with the gate and pivoted operating-levers therefor, of a movable latch-bar, a laterally-projecting frame on the gate, an auxiliary frame connected to said lateral frame, an oscillating lever in direct movable connection with said latch-bar and guided in a slot in the auxiliary frame, and means for operating said lever from the pivoted hand-levers, substantially as described.

9. In a swinging gate, the combination with the gate and pivoted operating-levers therefor, of a movable latch-bar normally in a retracted position when the gate is closed, a latcrally-proj ecting frame on the gate, an auxiliary frame connected to said lateral frame, an oscillating lever pivoted on the laterallyprojecting frame and guided in its movement by the auxiliary frame, and a connecting-bar between the said lever and operating-levers for the gate, substantially as described.

10. In a swinging gate,the combination with the gate and hand operating-levers therefor, of a movable latch-bar, a main and an auxiliary laterally-projecting frame on the gate, the latter having a longitudinal slot therein, an oscillatin g lever pivoted to the main frame and connected with the latch-bar, and provided with a tongue moving in the slot of the auxiliary frame, and a connecting-bar between the hand-levers and the said oscillating lever, substantially as shown and described.

11. In a swinging gate,the combination with the gate and hand operatingdevers therefor,

of a movable latch-bar, a main and an aux-.

iliary laterally-projecting frame on the gate, the latter having a longitudinal slot therein, an oscillating lever pivoted to the main frame and movably connected with the latch-bar, and being provided with a projection reachin g to near the top of the gate as well as with a tongue moving in the slot of the auxiliary frame, and a connecting-bar pivotally connected with one of the hand operating-levers at one end and similarly connected at its other end with the projection on said oscillating lever, substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

12. In a swinging gate,the combination with the gate and a movable latch-bar thereon, of the main laterally-proj ecting frame, the oscillating lever pivoted thereon in movable con nection with the latch bar, the auxiliary frame having a longitudinal slot receiving the end of said lever, and provided with a key or wedge for regulating the movement of said lever, and means for operating the said lever, substantially as shown and described.

13. The combination with the gate and operating-levers therefor, of a latch, a horizontally-oscillatin g lever connected to operate the latch, and in direct movable connection therewith and connected to be operated by the operating levers, substantially as de scribed.

14. The combination with the gate, of the movable latch-bar provided with a nut for ad justin g the same, substantially as described.

15. In a swinging gate, the combination of a movable latch-bar normally in a retracted position when the gate is closed, operating hand-levers for the gate, and means or connections between the inner ends of said handlevers and the latch bar, whereby as the levers are operated to open the gate the said latch-bar is advanced or moved forward, substantially as shown and for the purpose described.

16. The combination with the gate, and the operating han d-levers therefor, of a movable latch -bar normally in retracted position when the gate is closed, a catch engaging the bar in this position, a connecting-bar pivotally attached to one of the operating-levers, and connections between the lower end of said bar and the latch-bar, whereby the said latch bar is moved forward and released upon operating the hand-levers, substantially as described.

17. The combination with the gate, and the operating hand-levers therefor, of a movable latch-bar normally in retracted position when the gate is closed, and in an advanced position when the gate is opened, catches for engaging the gate in each of its positions, and connections between the said latch-bar and the operating-levers whereby the latch-bar is operated, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

I 18. The combination with the gate, and the operating hand-levers therefor, of a movable latch-bar normally in retracted position when the gate is closed, and constructed at its forward end to be engaged by a catch, a pivoted oscillating lever in movable connection with said latch-bar at or near the inner end thereof, and a swinging connecting-bar between said oscillating lever and the inner end of one of the hand-levers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM RICHARD WHITE.

Witnesses:

T. A. BURT, L. H. BRIDGES.

IIC 

